Alright, so my predictions were more than a little off this year but there were quite a few surprises thrown in. This seemed to be a pretty big year for Death Note which took six different awards. Gurren Lagann managed to stay competitive as well with three awards. Perhaps the biggest surprises to the winners though are the complete absence of Shin-chan and Bandai pulling out a win with the Lucky Star OVA despite the title not even being released in the US yet. All of the awards and nominees are listed below with the winners put into bold. I’ll comment on the ones that I personally voted on below each:

Category 01: Best Voice Actor (Japanese)

Jun Fukuyama – CODE GEASS – Lelouch Lamperouse
Kappei Yamaguchi – DEATH NOTE – L
Katsuyuki Konishi – GURREN LAGANN – Kamina

Off to a bad start, I predicted Fukuyama to take it. 0-1

Category 02: Best Voice Actor (English)

Samuel L. Jackson – AFRO SAMURAI RESURRECTION – Afro and Ninja Ninja
Dave Wittenburg – NARUTO – Kakashi Hatake
Kyle Hebert – GURREN LAGANN – Kamina

Called this one and had a strong hunch I wasn’t going to be let down. 1-1

Category 03: Best Voice Actress (Japanese)

Riisa Naku – THE GIRL WHO LEPT THROUGH TIME – Makoto Konno
Maaya Sakamoto – THE GARDEN OF SINNERS – Shiki Ryogi
Junko Takeuchi – NARUTO – Naruto Uzumaki

Category 04: Best Voice Actress (English)

Laura Bailey – SHIN CHAN – Shin Chan
Michelle Ruff – GURREN LAGANN – Yoko
Michelle Ruff – BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY – Rukia Kuchiki

Another bad call by me; Michelle Ruff had the better odds though so that makes it 1-2 so far.

Category 05: Best Casting Director

Jaime Simone – BLEACH
Jaime Simone – AFRO SAMURAI RESURRECTION
Kaeko Sakamoto – GURREN LAGANN

Predicted this one so that’s 2-2, not bad.

Category 06: Best Character Design

Masaru Kitao of Madhouse – DEATH NOTE
Yuji Iwahara – DARKER THAN BLACK
Daisuke Nakayama – TWEENY WITHCES

And now I’m pulling ahead with 3-2. Darker Than Black was nice though it still surprises me that Tweeny Witches got nominated.

Category 07: Best Mechanical Design

Yoh Yoshirari – GURREN LAGANN
Takeshi Takakura – GENESIS OF AQUARION
Niohiro Washio – THE THIRD: THE GIRL WITH THE BLUE EYE

Wanted to The Third pull this one out but it seems that this is another year of Gurren Lagann putting me at 3-3.

Category 08: Best Male Character

Tamaki – OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB
L – DEATH NOTE
Hei – DARKER THAN BLACK

Another bad call by me and now I’m at 3-4. Wow, I’m really not doing so hot this year.

Category 09: Best Female Character

Rukia Kuchiki – BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY
Revy – BLACK LAGOON: SECOND BARRAGE
Sei Sato – MARIA WATCHES OVER US (MARIA-SAMA GA MITERU)

Category 10: Best Mascot Character

Mokona – xxxHOLIC
Kon – BLEACH
Boota – GURREN LAGANN

I didn’t think Mokona had that much support I’m proven wrong here putting me at 3-5.

Category 11: Best Backround Design

Ogura Workshop – THE GIRL WHO LEPT THROUGH TIME
GREEN – HELL GIRL
Minoru Nakamura of Studio Pierrot – BLEACH

Wow, Bleach beats out Hell Girl? I’m not so sure I can agree with the results on this one but none the less, I’m now well behind.

Category 12: Best Original Video Animation

KITE LIBERATOR – Media Blasters
BALDR FORCE EXE – Funimation Entertainment
LUCKY STAR OVA – Bandai Entertainment

Anyone want to explain to me how a release that has yet to even be released in the US is winning the Best OVA award? Either way, Bandai takes it and I fall further behind.

Category 13: Best Feature Film

THE GIRL WHO LEPT THROUGH TIME – Bandai Entertainment
BLEACH THE MOVIE: MEMORIES OF NOBODY – VIZ Media
VEXILLE – Funimation Entertainment

Category 14: Best Television Series

SHIN CHAN – Funimation Entertainment
NARUTO – VIZ Media
GURREN LAGANN – Bandai Entertainment

And I think I can forget about pulling out even in the end.

Category 15: Best Original Score

DEATH NOTE Score – DEATH NOTE – Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi
MAD BOMBER – Aquarion – Yoko Kanno and Hokari Hisaaki – Victor Entertainment
EMMA: A VICTORIAN ROMANCE (Season 1) – EMMA: A VICTORIAN ROMANCE – Kanihiko Ryo – Pony Canyon

Once again, a result that I just really cannot agree with. Death Note had a wonderful score but the period pieces composed by Kanihiko really deserved the nod here.

Category 16: Best Original Song

“Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” – Bleach – Beat Crusaders – Aniplex Inc. – Beat Crusaders
“Undine” – ARIA The Animation – Yui Makino – Victor Entertainment – Mina Kubota ( Music), Eri Kawai (Lyrics)
“Combat” – AFRO SAMURAI RESURRECTION – RZA and P.DOT – Wu Music – R.Diggs and N. Greenwood

Category 17: Best Director (Japanese)

Tetsuro Araki – DEATH NOTE
Mamory Hosoda – THE GIRL WHO LEPT THROUGH TIME
Hiroyuki Imaishi – GURREN LAGANN

Category 18: Best Director (American)

Karl Willems – DEATH NOTE
Joe DiGiorgi – THE THIRD: THE GIRL WITH THE BLUE EYE
Mike Mc Farland – ONE PIECE

Category 19: Best Manga – Action

TSUBASA: RESERVIOR CHRONICLE – Del Rey Manga – CLAMP
HELLSING – Dark Horse – Kohta Hiano
BLACK LAGOON – VIZ Media – Rei Hiroe

Category 20: Best Manga – Comedy

FAIRY TAIL – Del Rey Manga – Hiro Mashima
TOKYO ZOMBIE – Last Gasp – Yusaka Hangkuma
KITSUNE NO YOMEIRI – Kodansha Co., Ltd. – Takagi Satoshi

Category 21: Best Manga – Drama

MONSTER – Viz Media – Naoki Urasawa
KITCHEN PRINCESS – Del Rey Manga – Miyuki Kobayashi – Natsumi Ando
GHOST TALKER’S DAYDREAM – Dark Horse – Okuse Saki – Meguro Sankichi

Category 22: Best Publication

Shonen Jump – VIZ Media
Style School – Dark Horse
Shojo Beat – VIZ Media

Category 23: Best Full Motion Video in Video Game

AFRO SAMURAI – Namco Bandai
FINAL FANTASY IV – Square Enix
LEFT 4 DEAD – Valve/Electronic Arts Inc.

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